


Desperate Measures

by Hiddencitrus



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Don't worry Naruto has a Plan, Execution, M/M, No Beta, Sasuke does not get a slap on the wrist after the war, Sasuke is sentenced to execution, i cant stop naming fics after songs, will update tags as fic progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:00:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22140673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hiddencitrus/pseuds/Hiddencitrus
Summary: After the war, Sasuke is put to trial for his crimes and sentenced to execution.How far will Naruto go to stop it?
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 10
Kudos: 66





	Desperate Measures

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't shake this story idea to save my life so here we are. My new years resolution is to write at least 100 words a day, with the goal of 100 words a day per WIP I have. It's small enough that it isn't too daunting for my depression. Wish me luck!
> 
> This is a multichaptered fic! Im silly and cant get it to reflect properly but there will be more.
> 
> Thanks to this, here's a new fic that nobody asked for. Enjoy!

It wasn’t the first time that news was revealed to Naruto Uzumaki that made him feel like his heart stopped, and it wouldn't be the last. 

Like the time he learned that he hosted a demon in his body, for example, or when Sasuke’s body fell lifelessly to the ground riddled with senbon. Actually, a lot of those times were related to the Uchiha in some way. More than he could count, from when he first left the village, to when Danzo announced the kill order, to when Sasuke turned to fight Naruto one last time. That last fight had led to them both losing an arm and trapped in the hospital for weeks.

Of course, when Sasuke was finally deemed stable enough, he was discharged from the hospital and taken directly to a prison cell. 

As much as Naruto hated it, it made sense. It was true that up until the war Sasuke had been considered an S-rank missing nin by the hidden villages and an international terrorist by all. That was the last time he’d seen his best friend for months. Naruto had volunteered himself as a character witness for his trial, and Sasuke’s defense didn't want his integrity questioned. He thought it was stupid, but obeyed anyway for fear of ruining their case. 

The trial dragged on and on, until finally the closing statements were made and the verdict was read. For every count he was charged with, even the petty ones, Sasuke Uchiha was found guilty. Naruto could have handled this and the chance for an appeal just fine, were it not for the sentence. It was so barbaric it hadn't been used in ages and it made him sick.

Public execution. 

And not only that, but once it was over they were going to take his eyes. His eyes. Kakashi had protested aggressively, but was ultimately overruled. It was deemed that the village couldn’t risk letting such a - God, his stomach turned at the thought - such a powerful weapon fall into the wrong hands. 

Sasuke was worth so much more than his kekkei genkai. Why couldn’t the council see that?

Naruto watched, frozen in place as everyone left the meeting room and immediately regretted letting things play out the way he had. He should have just fought harder, or maybe insisted on letting Sasuke speak at the trial himself instead of through indirect statements read on his behalf. If they would just listen-!

“Naruto.”

He finally noticed through hazy vision that he and Kakashi were the only two left in the room. Naruto felt wetness on his cheek and raised his arm to scrub it away with his sleeve, trying to snap himself out of his daze.

“Hey, Kakashi-sensei,” he mumbled.

Kakashi was leaning against the table in front of him, Hokage robes folded and draped over his crossed arms. He’d shed them as soon as was polite now that his official business was over. Naruto let his hands fall in his lap where they lay limp. For once in his life, he felt like all the energy had been sapped from his body. He waited for Kakashi to say something, but he just studied him from behind his mask.

“I really thought,” Naruto rasped, clearing his throat. “I really thought everything would be okay.

“After everything that happened..” he began picking at the bandages covering his right arm. “He did a lot of bad things, but he always did what he thought was right. Sasuke doesn't deserve this. Can’t we fight it?!” he finally snaps, searching his sensei’s eyes for any sign of hope.

“There has to be something we can do, sensei, we can't just sit back and let him die-” Naruto choked and clutched his chest, feeling his lungs seize as if they were determined to send him to death right alongside his friend. After a moment of struggling, he managed to suck in a lungful of air in a ragged gasp.

“I’ll.. do something!” he shouted, leaping up out of his chair, hands raised and fingers twitching to cross each other in the sign for his shadow clone jutsu. 

“Actually, it would be better for Sasuke if you didn’t,” Kakashi said quietly, wincing at the loud screeching sound the chair made as it flew out from under Naruto.

“What?”

“Even though you both fought for Konoha, you're the one that's seen as a war hero. Nobody will retaliate against you directly. However, the council has complete control over Sasuke, who many still view as an enemy of the village. Who do you think will ultimately take the punishment when you piss them off?” 

Kakashi paused gravely for a moment, letting him process his words.

“There are things worse than death, Naruto.”

“I can’t, sensei. Not after everything I went through to bring him home,” the blonde rasped. “I can’t let him be taken away again.”

His voice and hands both shook as his insides knotted with shock, worry, and anger. Naruto clenched his fists at his sides as he worked to reign his chakra back in. It had burst out of him just as he’d exploded from his seat, whipping around him not unlike the tails of the beast inside him.

“Go home,” Kakashi said quietly after a beat of silence. 

“Rest. You’ll need it,” he added as he made to leave Naruto alone with his thoughts.

“Wait, why?” Naruto asked, spinning around to look at him.

“Oh, you probably missed it after the initial sentencing. You were pretty out of it,” he said, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else, doing anything but answering Naruto’s question.

“The council saw fit to involve you since you’re the only one strong enough to subdue him,” he said with a heavy sigh, running his fingers through his silver hair.

“You’ll be the one carrying out the execution. Tomorrow.”

Subdue him? Naruto shuddered, thoughts turning inward as Kakashi slipped out the door. The thought made him nauseous, that the village thought of Sasuke as some unruly animal that needed to be contained and put down, as if the explosive finale of their last brawl hadn't equally cost them both an arm.

Head hung low in defeat, Naruto left the courtroom. For the first time in his life, he felt truly hopeless. He had tried every argument to save Sasuke! He’d even offered to take part of his punishment in his stead in an attempt to reduce his friend's pain.

He had left the courtroom intending to head home, but his feet carried him to T&I, to the holding cells where Sasuke was being imprisoned. After catching sight doors to the department, Naruto was overcome with the need to speak to him. 

As he made his way to enter, he was stopped by two ANBU. Their weapons weren’t drawn, but their stances very clearly conveyed that they wouldn’t hesitate to stand against him if he put them in that position.

“I need to see Sasuke,” Naruto said. 

“Please,” he thought to add after a moment with no response. He did his best to appear casual, but he could feel his hackles rising on the back of his neck.

“On what orders?” hissed the owl masked nin standing to the left, voice garbled by jutsu.

“On- What? Nobody's! Can't I stop by to see my best friend when he's gonna be murdered tomorrow?!” he cried, beginning to feel a little hysterical.

“Executed,” the rabbit mask on the right corrected, like there was a difference, like it mattered. Naruto grit his teeth. “But yes, you can see him.”

Rabbit mask nin turned and pushed their way into the double doors, not bothering to wait for a response or to check if Naruto was following them. He was.

“The Uchiha is bound physically and blindfolded, and the chakra pathways letting him use his dojutsu have been sealed. You don't have to worry about him attacking you if you're gonna break the news,” the ANBU informed while they took seemingly random turns deeper underground.

“I’ll tell him,” Naruto vowed, not bothering to protest that he’d never in his life been afraid of Sasuke, only for.

The further they descended, the stronger the scent of mold and rotten blood filled the air. The electric lights that lined the hallways were gone, and now the way was lit by a soft, sickly green glow that had no clear source but still seemed to emanate from the ground. Most unsettling, though, was an unnatural quiet that tied Naruto’s stomach in knots. Was Sasuke just sitting alone in the dark in complete silence?

The Rabbit ANBU stopped at the top of a narrow stairwell and gestured for him to proceed alone.

“You have five minutes.”

The implications of what would happen if he was late hung heavy and undefined in the air behind him as his steps echoed down the stairs. As Naruto jogged into the hall of barren cells, his eyes jumped between them searching for Sasuke. He didn’t have much time and he didn't want to waste it peering through the bars.

“Sasuke?” he whispered, then mentally kicked himself and called again, louder this time. 

“Sasuke?!”

Had they gagged him too? Naruto bristled at the thought. Sasuke had surrendered and was complying with every demand his captors made, every blow to his dignity, and still they treated him like he was feral.

Finally, in the last cell he came across, he saw his best friend curled in the far corner of the cell, chakra binding cuffs on his wrists and a band of dark fabric tied over his eyes. He wasn’t gagged, it seemed, he was just being an ass.

“Sasuke, why didn't you answer me? I need to talk to you and I don't have much time!” Naruto cried, fisting his hands against the cell bars as if he was the one trapped inside.

“Sasuke..?” he questioned after a few too many seconds of silence. Maybe they’d sealed his voice too and Naruto was the ass?

“Naruto. Why are you here?” Sasuke drawled, somehow managing to sound aloof and annoyed with hair matted against his neck and grime smeared across his cheeks.

“Hey, bastard,” Naruto said through a small smile, the relief of hearing his friend's strong voice washing away any irritation he'd felt moments ago. He hoped the defiance would stay after he learned he'd die tomorrow. “I just came from your trial.”

The blonde fell silent. He needed to hurry up and tell him what happened while he had time, but voicing it to the person who would be affected by the verdict the most made it too real. 

Naruto grit his teeth. He could power through this, for Sasuke. He'd just thought about how he was the one that would be the most directly impacted by all this; he deserved to know.

“They found me guilty, didn't they. What's my sentence?” he said, voice clear and unwavering, but Naruto knew him better than to assume that even deep down he was completely unafraid. He took a deep breath to steel himself.

“They ah.. you're going to be executed at sundown tomorrow. And they want me to do it.”

A harsh bark of laughter burst out of Sasuke.

“Sasuke? Are you-”

“Just make it quick, alright? You probably have to leave now. I’ll see you tomorrow.” he interrupted, turning his head away to end the conversation there. Accepting death just like that.

“How can you be okay with this?” Naruto yelled, throwing his hands in the air.

“After everything you've gone through, after everything you survived, you're just going to lay down and die?!” he screeched, then jabbed a finger through the bars, pointing an accusatory finger at Sasuke before continuing quietly, voice wavering with emotion.

“I refuse to let you die.”

“There isn't anything you can do to stop it, Usuratonkachi,” Sasuke said quietly, slouching into the corner of his cell. He'd sounded so strong but now he'd deflated and he just sounded so tired.

“You can give up if you want, but I’ll.. I’ll bust you out!” 

Naruto looked around Sasuke’s cell frantically, taking in all layers of seals. He deflated a bit. Even if he started now, he couldn't break through it in time.

“Time’s up, Uzumaki,” the distorted voice of the ANBU called, echoing through the prison wing.

“Coming!” he called.

“It’s okay, Naruto. I’m okay,” Sasuke sighed, drawing his attention back. 

“Sasuke, no, I’ll get you out of here!” Naruto hissed, but he ignored him.

“I never expected to live very long anyway. Don’t do anything stupid that’ll ruin your chances of become Hokage.” He shook his head as Naruto made to respond. “Now go. I’m ready, but you're not. Prepare yourself for tomorrow and I’ll see you then.”

Naruto could almost imagine the dark, piercing eyes staring at him from behind the blindfold.

“Okay,” he whispered, tore his eyes away from his best friend who now had mere hours to live, and left.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully I can stick to a New Years Resolution when it's actually fun to do. 
> 
> This is a multichaptered fic! Im silly and cant get it to reflect properly but there will be more.
> 
> Hope you liked it! Please let me know what you think. Kudos and comments are always welcome.
> 
> Love,  
> Hiddencitrus


End file.
